Playing Cat and Mouse
by Sakura aka L-sama no Miko
Summary: I suck at summaries.Just read 'k? Centers mostly around Shion, Kyaa, and a mysterious girl.


Playing Cat and Mouse

A PSME fic

By Sakura

Disclaimer: I don't own PSME so please don't sue me.

A/N: I haven't read any of the manga, so I only know about Shion's past from what I've seen in the OAV's. For those who have read the manga, consider this to be an A/U fic. 

            It was a quiet summer evening as Shion sat contentedly on Kyaa's lap. The boy snuggled closer to the giant cat as they continued to enjoy the warm breeze blowing through the fields surrounding the tiny house.

            Shion was going to start school soon and he wanted to enjoy what little freedom he had left. Suddenly the dark haired boy looked up as he sensed something at the back of his mind.

            "Kyaa, why don't you help Papa Lazlo with dinner. I'm going to check something out," he said getting off the feline alien's lap.

            'OK,' Kyaa replied in the boy's mind, 'Just don't go too far.'

            "I won't. I'll be right back," he said as the giant cat went back inside.

            Shion crept slowly through the cornstalks as he neared whatever it was he had sensed. As he approached, he could hear soft sobbing.

            Pushing aside the tall plants, he came upon a little girl a year or two younger than him. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes, which were now red and puffy from crying.

            "What are you doing here?" Shion asked bending down to look at her. "Are you lost?"

            The girl started at the boy's voice and shrank back in fear. "D-Don't m-make go b-back th-there," she stammered.

            "I'm Shion," the dark haired boy said smiling as he carefully moved closer to her. "I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name?"

            She looked at him again, unsure if she could trust the boy or not. "M-Mokuren," she replied after a few moments. "M-My name's M-Mokuren."

            "That's a nice name," Shion said sitting next to the blonde girl. "Why are you way out here by yourself?" he asked again.

            "B-Bad m-men… they… th-they k-killed M-Mommy and D-Daddy!" The little girl then broke down into uncontrollable sobs.

            Shion wrapped his arms around her, not knowing what else to do, and let the girl cry herself out.

            When she had finally stopped from lack of breath, he pulled her close, suddenly feeling protective of her. "Why would they do that?" he asked, frowning as he remembered when his own parents were murdered during the war a few years back.

            "B-Because I-I d-didn't w-want to go w-with them," Mokuren answered, wiping her runny nose with the sleeve of her dirtied pink dress. "T-They w-wanted m-me t-to d-do b-bad things."

            The older child sat holding her for a bit, trying to figure out why anyone would want to force a child to leave their parents. Had this girl's parents been killed for the same reason his were? "Mokuren," he began softly, "Can you make things happen? Can you do things other kids can't?"

            She looked at him puzzled then became frightened again. "I-I d-don't wanna g-go b-back th-there!" she screamed.

            "I won't let anyone take you. I promise," he said stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her. "They killed my mom and dad too. Because of what I can do."

            Mokuren wiped at her eyes. "Y-You can do magic too?" she asked.

            Shion nodded then let go of the girl. He stood up. "Watch," he said then closed his eyes concentrating. The dark haired boy rose several inches off the ground, hovering amongst the cornstalks.

            Mokuren gazed at him in amazement. "Kakkoi (Cool!)" she squealed, clapping her hands. "You can fly! I can only talk to plants and animals nothing like that," she babbled, her fear momentarily forgotten.

            Shion floated back to the ground. "You can stay with me, Papa Lazlo, and Kyaa," he said offering his hand. "They're my family and they're really nice."

            The girl looked at the boy's hand warily. She had managed to lose the 'bad men' in the fields, but what if they were waiting somewhere? Waiting for this nice boy to bring her back to them?

            "I hate the people who killed my parents. Besides, it's only me and my family here so you'll be ok," he said not needing to read her mind to see what she was thinking.

            "Y-You won't l-let the bad men g-get m-me?"

            "I promise," he replied, "Me 'n' Kyaa will scare 'em off."

            "'K," she said grasping his hand. "Arigatou, Shion-kun."

            "I'm back!" the dark haired boy called as he and his new found friend entered the house, "Is dinner ready?"

            "You're just in time, Shion," said a tall bearded man coming from the kitchen. "Oh hello there," he said noticing the girl shyly hiding behind the boy. "You've brought a guest I see."

            "This is Papa Lazlo," Shion said introducing his adoptive father, "He's real nice. This is Mokuren, Papa. I found her out in the corn."

            "Oh you poor kid. Did you get lost?" Tears began to fall from the girl's eyes again.

            Shion pulled at the man's sleeve. "Can I talk to you for a minute Papa Lazlo?" he asked. The man nodded and let the boy lead him to one of the rooms off of the dinning area.

            "Kyaa, you'd better set another plate, Shion's got a guest," Lazlo called over his shoulder.

            As Shion explained the girl's situation a giant gray and black striped cat emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate, bowl and silverware to the table. Mokuren let out a shriek hten ran to where the other humans were.

            "Mokuren, what's wrong?" Shion asked.

            "T-There's a-a g-giant k-kitty! D-Don't let him eat me!"

            Lazlo chuckled. "I see you met Kyaa. Don't worry little one, he won't eat you. You're too cute," he said smiling warmly.

            "H-He's a n-nice k-kitty?" the little girl asked peeking at the feline alien from behind Shion.

            "He's my best friend," Shion said proudly. "Right, Kyaa?"

            'I'm sorry if I frightened you little miss,' the cat said using telephathy to speak to her.

            "It's ok. I thought you might have thought I was a mousie," she replied blushing.

            Just then her stomach rumbled, demanding to be fed and they all laughed. "All right you two, go wash up before you eat," Lazlo instructed as he went to help Kyaa with the rest of the meal.

            "'K, Papa Lazlo," Shion answered, leading Mokuren to the house's only washroom.

            Mokuren lay snuggled up against Kyaa as the cat alien dozed before the fireplace, one tiny hand gripping a bit of the giant cat's fur as she slept, exhausted from the day's events.

            "But Papa Lazlo," Shion's voice pleaded from the dinning room as he helped the man with the cleaning up.

            "I know you want to stop whoever it is that wants her, but we can't keep her," the bearded man replied. "She might have some relatives somewhere."

            "But what if she doesn't?" the boy ventured.

            "Shion," Lazlo said firmly, "I know you'd like to have someone your age to play with, but we can only afford for the three of us to live here. Besides, you'll have lots more friends when you start school."

            "I guess," was the boy's reply.

            "We'll take her to the orphanage you were staying at in the morning," Lazlo said taking away the last of the dishes. "Maybe they can find her relatives and I'm sure you'd like to see the sisters again."

            "I can go with you?" Shion asked, eager at the promise of a road trip.

            "Only if you promise to behave and not tease the other children like you used to."

            "OK, I'm promise!" the boy said as he began to wash the dishes.

            "You sure this is the place?" a shadowy figure asked as he began to play with the backdoor's lock.

            "Yeah, the target's signal led straight to here," a second figure answered.

            "Just remember," added a third, "She's not to be harmed. The boss wants her alive."

            "Yeah, yeah. I gotcha," grumbled the figure prowler.

            "Try to be as quiet as you can," ordered the third, "Who knows what's inside. If you run into any trouble, do what you can to get the girl. Use any means necessary, but don't harm the kid."

            "All right!" said the second, as he cracked his knuckles. "I get to have some fun!"

            Two of the thugs silently entered the house, each going in a separate direction in search of their target, while the leader waited outside in the tall grass.

            Unbeknownst to them, Kyaa had woken at the sound of the backdoor opening and was now patrolling the rooms, in full 'cat mode'.

            "Now where's the brat at?" the one who had picked the lock whispered as he crept into the dinning room.

            That was the last thing he said before he felt something like a huge hand latch onto the back of his neck. He was lifted off the floor a few feet as was shaken like a rag doll a couple times before his spinal cord snapped, killing him instantly. The poor man never knew what hit him.

            Kyaa left the house, carrying the corpse of his latest prey. He put the body down to open the door to Lazlo's root cellar out back. Picking up the body again, he carefully carried it and stashed in one of the far corners. Once he was certain his human companions wouldn't find or disturb his 'snack', the giant feline went back to patrolling the house, ignoring the scent of the third thug for now.

            Kyaa waited at the top of the stairs, hidden in the shadows. He had smelt the scent of a second intruder and was now waiting for him to appear. A burly looking man in about his thirties emerged from Shion's room, a look of disappointment on his face. "Damn wrong kid," he muttered. "Some fun, I'm having. Everyone's sleepin' like a bunch of babies." He then impatiently wiped his hands against his pants as he descended the staircase, totally unaware of the danger he was in. He winced at the creaking of the old wood as he stepped on it.

            Kyaa had promised Shion he would watch over the girl and he wasn't about to break that promise. However, who said he couldn't have a bit of fun while keeping it? The feline alien smiled wickedly as he watched the thug reach the end of the stairs, not knowing his life was about to end at any moment. He liked letting his prey think it was safe and alone then suddenly pounce on them as soon as its guard was down.

            Once the intruder a had stepped off the last step as was making his way toward his den, Kyaa silently leapt over the banister and landed on the human below, pinning him to the floor with his enormous claws. The cat alien then quickly bit into the thug's neck, severing his jugular vein. The man struggled to scream, but could only gasp as his life was slowly bleeding away. Like with the first thug, Kyaa shook him by his neck not caring that he was getting blood all over the place. When the second intruder was dead, he carried the corpse outside and stashed it in the root cellar.

            'Now for snack number three,' he said to himself, licking off the blood on his mouth and whiskers.

            The third thug, was getting nervous. "What's keeping them so long? They should've found the brat by now."

            He whirled around, brandishing his gun after hearing a sound from behind. He cursed realizing there was nothing there. "Meow," he heard again.

            "Go away you stupid cat!" he said ignoring the animal behind him, not realizing just what kind of cat it was.

            "Meow," the cat said again.

            "Listen you dumb cat, I said get outta here!" The thug whirled around again and saw two gigantic glowing eyes peering at him from between the grass. "N-Nice k-kitty," he said backing up. The eyes didn't move, just kept on staring at him. "Screw the kid, I'm getting outta here!" he yelled and ran as fast as he could.

            Kyaa easily caught up to him and in true cat fashion continued to play with the 'mouse' until he grew tired and quickly dispatched the man.

            "Whatcha doin'?" said a sleepy Shion as he wandered from the washroom.

            Kyaa smiled at the boy before answering. 'I spilled some milk,' he explained as he quickly hid the bloody towel behind his back.

            "Oh, 'k. Night Kyaa," Shion said rubbing his eyes and making his way up the stairs.

            'Goodnight, Shion-kun,' the cat replied, grateful there wasn't too much blood to clean up.


End file.
